The Storm's Fury
by Apple Woods
Summary: Several years after the death of his friends and the defeat of a madman, a certain kitsune has taken up the mantle of hero as he finds himself facing a new enemy more dangerous than he could have imagined. Rated T for violence and possible romantic elements further on in the story.
1. Lone Warrior

**Hey there, everyone! After some time, I've decided to start writing again, though I can't guarantee how often I actually update between being busy, dealing with depression, and working on a novel. Some of you may have once known me as Twilails and if you followed me and wondered what happened to my stories, I decided to abandon them, but I may post reworks of some of my previous stories I had on my other account sometime in the future. Now that I've told you a little about myself, it's time to talk about this story. This story features a version of Tails I've recently created and I'm pretty excited about writing about him myself, to be honest. I decided to go with a first person view for this story because I used to use it all the time when I started writing fanfiction, and I thought it might be nice to go back, only this time it's only going to be Tails' point of view and no one else's. Also, Tails is going to be the only canon character in this story, everyone else is dead, sorry if this upsets you and also sorry for the slight spoiler, but if I do rework some of my other works, I'll be sure to work in Sonic and the others at some point in those stories. Anyway, I've talked too long and you're probably bored reading all this by now, assuming you even read this intro this far, so on to the story!**

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><p>Chapter One: Lone Warrior<p>

It was a fairly quiet night as I walked through Station Square's memorial cemetery, feeling the crisp October air on my skin even under my fur. I looked back towards the city, the bright lights of the ever-active metropolis providing a stark contrast to the quiet darkness of this place.

I walked along a particular row of graves, graves I had visited many times over the last several years on holidays and times of loneliness including this occasion. It was never easy to make the walk, but the last stop was always the hardest. I stopped in front of a large grave, the grave that many others besides me visited and wasn't hard to miss. They had erected a statue in his honor, showing him striking a heroic pose as he pointed off into the distance with his signature grin. There was a familiar symbol carved into the gravestone itself under the statue, a winged circle with stars all along the circle's diameter. Within the circle was engraved the epitaph, "Here lies Sonic the Hedgehog, hero to us all,".

I sank to my knees, tracing my finger along one of the stars in the circle before it strayed to the S in Sonic's name, feeling the familiar sting of tears in my eyes as I stared at the name. It had been three years now since the deaths of him and my other friends...Knuckles...Amy...Even Vanilla and Cream, none had escaped the wrath of Eggman's final plot, including he himself...None, that is, except for me.

I often wondered why I was the one to survive, what strange twist of fate caused me to get out unharmed when none of my friends had been able to do the same. It haunted me for the first two years, nightmares of seeing Sonic torn apart at a molecular level by Eggman's machines plaguing my sleep. But after a few months, I'd made a realization, a possible reason fate could have possibly had to spare my life when the lives of my friends had been taken so suddenly.

I had to take Sonic's place, to continue his legacy and let the people of Station Square and the world know that there was still hope, that I would still be there to challenge whatever new evil might potentially threaten the world. To that end, I had started training, to push my limits and do things I never could have done before. After several years, it had paid off; I had greatly improved my skill at flying with my tails, and could now fly for hours before tiring. I could also fly upright now as well as doing loops and being able to fly backwards and stop on a dime to hover in place.

Most impressive, however, was the ability I'd developed that truly made me Sonic's successor, something I'd dreamed of doing ever since I'd first met Sonic all those years ago; I had broken the sound barrier, I'd finally been able to achieve Sonic's own breakneck speed through my flight.

I was now seventeen, and I'd developed some new equipment to help me in my new role as well. This included a collapsible lance with electrically charged attacks and a pair of miniature jet boosters worn around my ankles that helped me jump higher when I took off into flight as well as to help change directions faster in the air and to hover in place when needed.

Aside from these changes, I was still more or less the same save for some gained height and the denim shorts and goggles I'd taken to wearing. After a few more moments, I stood up, wiping the tears from my eyes and looking back towards the city. It was still fairly early in the night, and many people were still active at this hour...Which usually meant that I had more work to do...

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><p>Soon, I stood at the top of a skyscraper, listening to the sounds around me and trying to single them out. Being a fox, my ears allowed me to pick up a lot of more subtle individual sounds from the chaos below, allowing me to know at the first sign of trouble. It was this refined hearing that allowed me to hear the scream, the scream of a woman somewhere down below. I slid my goggles down over my eyes as I turned around, spreading my arms to either side as I allowed myself to fall backwards off of the building, listening to the wind rushing past me as I tried to pinpoint where the sound had come from as I fell.<p>

After a few moments, I thought I'd pinpointed it as my eyes shot open and I righted myself in mid-air, starting to get my tails going. I shot off like a bullet as soon as I did, using short boosts from my ankle boosters to make minute adjustments to my flight pattern to avoid buildings and other obstacles. They were maneuvers similar to the quickstep technique Sonic had developed to quickly change paths while he was running, though being in the air allowed me to move under and over different obstacles as well.

I swerved into an alleyway, soon finding the source of the commotion as a few thugs had cornered a defenseless woman. A difficult situation for a normal person, perhaps, but it was easy pickings to me as I caught one of them by the back of his collar and turned, hurling him into his cohorts before landing on the ground and pushed my goggles back up on my forehead. The terrified woman saw her opportunity as she ran past the incapacitated

"All right, now, there's a few ways we could do this," I told the thugs as I pulled my lance from a holster at my side, extending it to its full five foot length as electricity sparked from its tip. The assembled bunch quickly got to their feet as the leader seemed to recognize me.

"It's that little freak who thinks he's some sort of hero, let's get him!" he demanded as they rushed at me, and I sighed.

"No one ever seems to want to hear any other option," I commented as I started to fight back. Two of them were dispatched rather quickly as they were shocked by the tip of my weapon. They began to surround me as one of them leaped from behind, only to be met with the twin force of my tails slamming into him as I spun around. That had been another advantage of my training, my tail attacks becoming even stronger than before; although the fur on them was soft as ever, they felt more like a brick wall when used to whip someone. This time was no different as he was sent reeling back with a dazed expression on his face.

I turned, flipping my lance downward as the shaft connected with the ankle of another attacker, knocking him to the ground. A sharp jab to the chest of another one sent him reeling back, causing him to stumble over the thug I'd just knocked down a moment before. Now they were getting careless as one of them charged at me, swinging wildly as I almost effortlessly moved back, watching as his own momentum sent him stumbling forward before he went sprawling on the ground.

It wasn't long before all of them had been incapicitated as I gathered them all in the center of the alley. I pulled out a small metal device from my pocket, tossing it over to the pile of unconscious bodies as the group was surrounded by an electromagnetic forcefield.

_That ought to hold them long enough for the police to find them,_ I thought to myself, twirling my lance a few times before I collapsed it again and slid it back into the holster at my side. I'd been a little nervous the first time I'd gone on patrol alone, but after several years on the job, fighting came naturally to me, and lowly criminals like these thugs weren't even a challenge.

There had been more difficult situations with better-armed criminals who had more of an idea of what they were doing, but I'd been able to handle them with my skills and some quick-thinking. Even so, I still wasn't sure I was cut out to be the one to replace Sonic.

The problem was, since Eggman was gone, nothing major had happened that required the level of heroism Sonic had possessed. I'd become almost complacent at this point, going through the motions as I dispatched whatever threat presented itself to me with ease. But there was always a chance that I wasn't yet good enough, someone just as demented and power-hungry as Eggman could rise to power at any time, and it would likely fall upon me to be able to stop them.

Even with my newfound strengths and all I'd done for the city the past few years, I still wasn't sure I was ready to deal with such a crisis. Sonic had saved the world plenty of times, but he hadn't always been alone. I'd been by his side for years and even as a star-struck little kid had helped him through some of his toughest challenges. Me, Amy, Knuckles, all of his friends had been there for him through most of his adventures...But it hadn't been enough to save any of them that last battle, even though Eggman had been defeated once and for all.

And now here I was, alone with my own burden to carry, the burden I HAD to carry, because I was probably the only one who could in case Station Square ever did face potential disaster at the hands of a new villain.

I was torn from my thoughts as there was a nearby crash and an alarm going off as I noticed a shadowy figure ran from the store he had likely broken into moments before. I pushed my worries aside as I launched myself into the air with my boosters, pulling my lance from my holster as I tore through the air after him, sliding back into the familiar rhythm as I did so.

As I started to catch up with him, I saw from his profile he was another Mobian, likely a canine by what I could see of his ears and tail. He hadn't noticed me, so I prepared to make my move before I looked around and suddenly realized that something was wrong, very wrong. He was fast, not like Sonic or I were, but still much faster than he should have been able to run. I did a few quick calculations in my head as I judged how fast I was moving in relation to his own speed as I flew behind him and calculated that he must have been going at least seventy-five miles per hour on foot. Mobians may not have been human, but most of us still had human limitations, Sonic, myself, and some of our other friends being obvious exceptions.

I was snapped out of my bewilderment as the figure suddenly realized he was being followed and made a motion with one arm. I quickly activated my boosters and veered to the side, wary of a gun or some other kind of weapon he was likely about to fire. What I didn't expect was what was undoubtedly a bolt of lightning that shot past me. I could hear the crackle of electricity as it shot past, feel the tingle as my fur stood up on end. I may have been fast, but even I couldn't have dodged a lightning bolt had I not seen him about to attack.

I quickly shook off the surprise once again as I aimed my own weapon, managing to hit one of the figure's legs with a bolt from the tip of my lance and he fell forward, a few different items he'd just stolen scattering over the street. I landed, making my way closer to get a closer look at my adversary before the unexpected happened once again as the street around us was suddenly shrouded in mist.

Being a fox, I normally had a lot better vision than most in low-visibility situations, but this sudden weather change obscured my vision almost completely, the dim outline of the figure still visible for a few more moments before it faded into the mist. After a moment, the mist faded just as suddenly as it had sprung up, the thief and everything he'd stolen nowhere in sight. I stood there a moment more, the sounds of the city around me and the crackling of electricity from my lance the only things I could hear. As I stood there, I suddenly realized that it might soon be time to see if I could handle such a hero's burden I'd taken upon myself...

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><p><strong>Okay, as I said earlier, I'm still trying to get back into the swing of things, and writing this much took a lot longer than I expected as I started writing this sometime before Halloween and originally had a reference to this fact in this chapter before I edited it out. And as I was writing, I realized that I might need some help with some of the characters, I already have ideas for one of Tails' new friends, a rival for him (same guy he was chasing in this chapter, btw), and another character I'll reveal when the time comes, but I still need:<strong>

**1. A love interest**

**2. A younger sidekick character, similar to how Tails himself started out.**

**3. A main villain, preferrably someone who fits in with the sort of theme I'm trying to create of a gathering storm in this story.**

**Because of this, I want to ask any readers I might have for help and send me some suggestions for characters like these, even if they're just vague ideas of a character, I could probably work with it and credit anyone whose suggestions I end up using at the end of the next chapter, even though I probably won't introduce all of these characters in the same chapter. Anyway, that's all for now, tell me what you think so far, and hopefully I'll be able to get some more updates out soon!**


	2. Lightning Strikes Twice

**Hello again! I think I'm starting to get an idea for the main villain of this story and something of an idea for the sidekick, but I still need some more ideas for the other kinds of characters I mentioned at the end of the last chapter. Anyway, for this chapter Tails meets the first of his allies in this story as well as the thief that had eluded him in the last chapter, so let's get on with the story!**

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><p>Chapter Two: Lightning Strikes Twice<p>

My ear flicked as the sound of birds outside my window slowly brought me back to the conscious world. I yawned, sliding out of bed and getting dressed, strapping my boosters to my ankles and my holster to my side before I made my way over to the lift to head down to the lower levels.

My old workshop had been destroyed during Eggman's last plan three years ago, along with the Tornado 2. Since then, I'd made a new base built into a large dead oak I'd found some ways outside of the city, pneumatic lifts built in to easily transport me to the different levels I'd built. As I reached the ground level, the lights in the rooms turned on automatically as an automated voice greeted me.

"Good morning, Master Prower, may I fetch you anything to eat?" the voice asked.

"Just coffee for now, Thebes, I'll eat later," I replied dismissively. A steaming cup of coffee soon materialized on a nearby table, and I picked it up as I walked past, taking a sip. The voice belonged to my automated system, the Tactical Holographic Energy-Based Embassy System, or T.H.E.B.E.S. for short. He was integrated throughout my base and could use holographic technology to materialize real objects, usually food or a part I might have been missing for one of my inventions. He could also help me research information and some other rudimentary tasks.

I strode into the main computer room, sitting down in my chair before sliding it over to the main control panel. "Bring up any information you might have found on the recent string of robberies and about any more reported instances of unusual mists around the city," I instructed, and Thebes soon had a multitude of articles popped up. I frowned, realizing I probably should have been more specific on the robberies. Station Square was a pretty big city, after all.

"Cross-reference to find any instances in which a strange mist occurred during a robbery," I clarified, and that narrowed it down considerably. It seemed that the mist had mostly been seen covering the escape of a thief following the theft of some fairly specific mechanical components. I recognized them, but what I didn't get was how they were all related to each other. It seemed fairly obvious that someone was building some kind of machine...But what?

I was distracted as I suddenly came across a recently declassified report Thebes had managed to pull from the G.U.N. database about a fox shooting lightning from his hands as well as strange mists appearing in the sectors he was found shortly afterward. But what was most troubling was what had been reported stolen from the vault of the base the attacker had infiltrated; a Chaos Emerald.

"Someone's after the emeralds...That's never a good sign," I commented to myself.

"Indeed, sir...Shall I send out a ping for you?" Thebes suggested. He was powered by a more powerful, computerized version of the fake Chaos Emerald I had created years before, the chaotic energy making his materialization capabilities possible. What he had been referring to was to send out a wave of chaos energy to try and pinpoint the location of any nearby Chaos Emeralds that might respond to the wave, similar to sending out a ping across a computer network.

"Good idea, if I can find some more emeralds, that may lead me to whoever's at the bottom of these thefts," I agreed, and waited as an energy pulse was sent out before the results of the ping popped up on the screen. I was in luck as it seemed that an emerald had responded to the ping in Station Square not far from my base.

"Keep researching new information on the thefts and the mist as it becomes available, I'll be going after the emerald," I told Thebes as I committed the location to memory and was soon out the door on my way to the city.

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><p>I soon reached the city, and it wasn't long before I was approaching the location where the emerald had responded. As I drew near, I soon heard voices as someone seemed to be in the middle of a confrontation.<p>

"I said, give it back!" the speaker had been a young white wolf with spiky black hair who seemed near my age, perhaps younger. He was wielding what appeared to be a large mechanical claymore, the sword almost seeming larger than himself. He didn't have any difficulty handling it despite this as he charged at his opponent, swinging it as easily as if it were a baseball bat.

His opponent was a fox with black fur, a white stripe shaped like a lightning bolt running over his left eye. He wore some kind of bodysuit under a pair of jeans and a long leather jacket, and from what I could see of it under his jacket, it was yellow with black lightning designs streaking across it, and I couldn't help but notice the purple Chaos Emerald he held. He smirked as the wolf charged at him, electricity crackling through his hands, and with a start I realized I'd found my thief.

I had to act fast, taking to the air and streaking towards the wolf right as the fox began his attack. I flew straight into the wolf, pushing him out of the way at the last second as the lightning bolt struck out from the fox's hand, feeling the electricity singe the fur at the tip of my tails as I barely cleared the lightning bolt myself.

"You again, huh?" the fox asked, turning to face me as I pulled my lance out of its holster and extended it. "You got lucky last time avoiding that bolt I launched and landing a hit yourself, but this time, things are going to be different!" he told me, stuffing the emerald into a jacket pocket and cracking his knuckles. Sparks jumped from his hands as he did so, but I didn't let that intimidate me.

"We'll just see about that, my weapon seemed to have stopped you last time before you pulled your little mist trick!" I commented as I pointed the tip of the lance towards him, shooting off an electric blast. It struck him dead on, but to my surprise, it didn't seem to affect him at all, he simply smirked wider.

"I told you things would be different," he said, thumping his chest. "This bodysuit is made of a special blend of spandex and latex that allows me all the freedom of movement I might need as well as insulating my body against all forms of electricity, including my own," he explained, and his hands started crackling again. "But my electricity will probably do a lot more to you!" he said, and I shot upwards as he fired another bolt. He continued his assault, but I zig-zagged through the air, dodging his attacks.

"All right then, maybe it's time for a different approach," I said as I retracted my lance and holstered it. I continued dodging the bolts as if they were nothing, watching my opponent's movements carefully. Of course, I wasn't faster than the lightning itself, but I didn't have to be, I simply had to move faster than he could aim them, and those were speeds I was more than capable of achieving.

"Why...Won't...You...Stay...Still?!" he growled at me, seeming be getting aggravated as he shot off two bolts in wildly different directions, almost catching me off guard as I nearly ran into one.

"Well, if I can't use my weapon against you, than this would probably work!" I commented as I shot forward, using my boosters to maneuver as he continued hurling lightning bolts at me before I connected with his chest with a powerful kick. The force of the kick combined with the momentum that was transferred to him in the process was enough to launch him back into the side of a building, leaving a large dent where he impacted.

I didn't give him much more time to react as I shot towards him once again, knocking him the rest of the way through the wall as I assaulted him with a flurry of punches in mid-air. He took many of them before he caught me by surprise as he managed to get upright on the ground, skidding back several inches as he caught my fist and used my own momentum against me to fling me into another wall.

"Not bad, kid, it's not every day I take a beating like that," the fox commented as I slowly got to my feet, suddenly noticing that the mist was already starting to pick up around us. "I have to be going now, but I hope we'll get a chance to play some more soon...By the way, the name's Striker in case you were wondering," he said pompously. I hurled myself forward, trying to grab him before he could make his escape, but the mist was already too thick for me to see. The next thing I knew, the mist dissipated and Striker was nowhere to be found.

"Whoa, that was intense!" I turned, having almost forgot about the wolf I'd saved from Striker's attack moments before. He was standing in front of the hole I'd made in the wall a moment ago, still holding his sword in one hand. I got a better look at him now as I saw he was wearing a pair of rider's goggles usually worn by extreme gear riders as well as black jeans and a black t-shirt under a blue and yellow flight jacket. "I don't think I've ever seen anyone move so fast!"

"Yeah, I get that a lot," I chuckled a little, rubbing the back of my head. "I wasn't fast enough, though, he got away with the emerald," I commented, and the wolf sighed.

"Damn, that thing would've been worth a fortune...I could have upgraded my gear to be faster than ever with that many rings," he commented. "Well, anyway, the name's Skylar, but my friends call me Skye!" he introduced himself, and I smiled.

"I'm Miles, but my friends call me Tails," I introduced myself before I realized something. "Wait, you mentioned a gear before, where is it?" I asked, confused. It did seem as if he were dressed to practice riding, so the absence of an actual gear seemed strange.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, my gear's kind of special," he commented as he held up his sword, pressing a button on its hilt before tossing it up into the air. I looked on, amazed as the sword transformed before my very eyes, soon taking the form of a board-type extreme gear. The only hint of it having been a weapon only moments before was a sharp tip that jutted out of the front of the board.

"I call it the Air Blade...Pretty sweet, huh? It was designed especially for me!" Skye commented as he handed me the board to look over.

"Wow...My friends and I used to ride around on these a lot, but I've never seen a gear quite like it!" I commented, turning back to him. He seemed to have been staring at me as looked his board over and his face suddenly brightened up as he had an idea.

"Wait, you're fast, right? So how about we have a race, my Air Blade vs. your tails?" he suggested. "That is, if you think you can keep up?"

"A race?" one of my ears flicked at the mention, my heart beating a little quicker in excitement. It had been so long since I'd had a real race with anyone since Sonic had died. Skye probably didn't really have a chance of beating me, gear or no gear, but of course I didn't actually mention this to him. Instead, I smiled, nodding as I stepped outside.

"All right then, I'll even give you a head start to show you just how well I can keep up," I told him, grinning a little. He looked a little surprised, but soon grinned back at me as he accepted the offer.

"All right then, just don't be too surprised if I leave you in the dust!" he told me before he turned, getting a running start before he jumped up, sliding the board under his feet as his gear took off and he sped down the street, weaving through the traffic. I waited a few moments until I was certain there'd be a considerable distance between us; after all, I didn't want this to be TOO easy for me...

I soon got a running start myself, only lifting off a few feet so I'd still be level with Sky on his board before taking off with a burst of speed. I wove my way through the traffic as he'd done, soon catching sight of him some ways ahead of me. I turned, hovering behind a nearby car so I'd be out of his line of sight as I saw him turn back to look for me. He probably didn't see me since he turned back in time to avoid a few cars, keeping up the same pace.

I zig-zagged my way down the street, chuckling to myself a little as I was sure to keep out of his sight as I caught up. I had to admit that it was fun, I could hardly remember the last time I'd enjoyed myself this much. I soon pulled up beside him, keeping enough distance between us so that he probably wouldn't hear the fan of my tails over his gear's engine. In fact, he didn't notice me for several more moments until he looked back again before doing a double-take and staring in disbelief at how quickly I'd caught up with him.

I simply flashed him a grin, arcing off to the side and disappearing around the other side of a van. The street we were on ended at a building pretty close ahead of us, which would likely make the current distance between us and it the final stretch. I decided to stop toying around and pulled up right beside him, making it seem close as we were neck and neck until I pulled slightly ahead at the last second and reached the building first. Sky swerved, pulling to a stop and jumping down off the board.

"Man, I should have known you'd beat me with how fast you were flying while fighting that guy," he sighed, tucking his board under one arm. After a moment, he realized something. "Though...I guess you were sort of holding back too, weren't you?" he asked.

"Well...Yeah, I guess you could say that," I told him a little sheepishly. "I'm...Usually a lot more modest, but I was so excited to have someone to race again that I couldn't help but toy with you a little to keep it interesting," I admitted. Skye didn't seem angry though, as he laughed instead.

"Wow, it must have taken some serious training to get that fast! Me, I've never really been much for speed, I'm more of a power kind of guy," he commented, and I nodded in acknowledgement.

"Yeah, you did seem to be handling that sword pretty easily, I haven't seen anyone quite as strong in some time!" I commented. The blade had to be pretty heavy not only because of how much metal it likely took to make a blade that size, but the fact that it was also full of extreme gear parts.

"Yeah, that wasn't very easy to accomplish either," he admitted, grinning. "I've been training for years to get this strong...In fact, this gear was actually a gift from my father I got some time ago for my accomplishments," he told me before his demeanor got noticeably less amiable. "In fact, he was one of the reasons I was trying to get my hands on my emerald...I was hoping I could maybe find someone who could offer me information in exchange, my father disappeared fairly recently, and I've found no trace of him so far..." he told me sadly.

I considered this quietly for a moment. First there was Striker stealing things accompanied by the mist, then he'd taken the Chaos Emerald, and now Skye's father, who could have possibly been related to all of this somehow...It just didn't seem to add up. I was missing something here, and until I was sure of what the whole picture in this situation was, it would be difficult to stop anything.

"Well, I think I could possibly help you," I suggested. "I've been investigating some of the things that have been happening around here myself, and I could help look into it," I suggested. "At the very least, I can offer you a place to stay for a while," I offered, and he smiled.

"Well, I haven't exactly had much money since I found my way to this city, so I think that'd be a pretty good idea!" he agreed.

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><p><strong>Well, that's it for now, sorry it took so long, but I've been dealing with other things and working on some of my other projects. This includes having to re-write the book I was already about 20,000 words into because...Well, it's complicated, but suffice it to say it's a story full of drama, intrigue, and cosplay (Well, okay, mostly just that last part). Anyways, it's given me a chance to implement some of the ideas I'd had for that story, but rest assured, I still have plenty of ideas for this particular story and will try to get some of them out soon. So, until next time!<strong>


	3. A Vexing Situation

**I've recently received a suggestion for this story's love interest, and I decided to use their idea along with some ideas of my own for her, so I hope you'll enjoy this chapter!**

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><p>Chapter Three: A Vexing Situation<p>

"So, this thing can really find information about nearly anything you want to investigate?" Skye asked, impressed as Thebes brought up some more articles.

"Pretty much, if anyone anywhere has any information on a subject online, Thebes can find it for me. There are limitations, of course, it's not like I'm going around dredging up classified government information or anything, it's sort of like a refined web search," I explained. "Now that I have a name and general description for one of the people behind this, maybe we can find at least some answers," I went on as Thebes continued his search.

I hadn't had much luck yet finding much about his father, but I was hoping something might turn up for Striker now that I knew at least something about him. After a few moments, I had my answer.

"I've found several criminal records which could possibly be a match for this Striker character, sir, they're several years old, but I think they may suffice," Thebes told me as I looked over the records. The name on the reports wasn't Striker, though; they all appeared to be under the name Jace Freyer. His appearance from police sketches and photos seemed to match him, albeit younger. There wasn't much useful information about him before his criminal activities came to light, but his criminal activity itself was pretty shocking to say the least.

His criminal records appeared to have started around when he was twelve, brought into juvenile detention under suspicion of multiple thefts; he'd disappeared one night, coincidentally during a thunderstorm. Sometime later, he'd been reported seen fleeing the scene of the crime of a brutal murder, the victim's body almost being unidentifiable from the severe burns they'd sustained. It was apparently part of a series of reports involving charred bodies and people who'd sustained severe third-degree burns on certain areas of their bodies, burns that could have very well been targeted by a lightning strike.

It was in the reports from the last few years that things really caught my attention. There had been a report of lightning that seemed to be concentrated in a single area during the storm, and upon arriving, authorities had witnessed a young fox hurling lightning down at people on the streets, the rain putting them even more at risk as he went on his rampage. According to the report, he'd taken down several patrols sent to the area as well as a SWAT team and even a few G.U.N. squadrons sent in to try and contain the situation before he'd escaped. That had been the last record of him Thebes had found; after that, there was nothing. Suffice it to say, I was obviously dealing with a very dangerous individual.

"Wow, it looks like you just got involved in some serious shit," Skye commented as he looked at some of the reports with me.

"That would be putting it lightly," I agreed. Just how serious the current situation was remained to be seen. I then frowned, looking through the reports again as I scanned them again. Then went through them a third time.

"What are you doing?" Skye asked, turning to me as I read through the most direct assault in Jace's last reported sighting again.

"This doesn't make sense...Not one of these reports makes any mention of any sort of mist appearing in the areas he was sighted in, and yet all of his current crimes have been accompanied by him vanishing into a mist appearing from nowhere...I even witnessed it myself on several occasions..." I commented.

"Well, maybe there was someone else with him?" Skye suggested.

"Well, that would make sense, but if there was anyone else on the scene, they hid their presence extraordinarily well...This is probably going to be harder to figure out than I thought," I sighed.

"If I may, sir, I may have some semblance of a lead on the mist front," Thebes spoke up just then. "I've taken the liberty of accessing a weather satellite to be able to monitor any unusual weather patterns around the city. Although this Jace hadn't been reported anywhere in the area, I've discovered there's been unusual meteorologic anomalies around this area outside of the city," he informed us as he brought up some coordinates.

"Well, it looks like you were right about there being someone else," I told Skye as I quickly committed the location to memory. "Come on, we might be able to find some more information if we investigate the area,"

"Finally, now we're getting somewhere!" Skye grinned, cracking his knuckles. He'd been rather restless for the past few days since I'd brought him home, and I couldn't blame him with what he was going through himself looking for his father.

-h

The two of us were soon speeding towards the area, me using my tails while Skye rode a little further behind on his Air Blade. Each of us had an earpiece I'd thrown together for each of us to be able to better communicate with each other as our speed began to surpass the speed of sound.

"All right, we're nearing the area now, we should probably spread out in order to increase our chances of..." I was starting to tell Skye before the feedback from his end suddenly turned to static. "Skye?" I asked, turning back to be sure he was still behind me...He wasn't.

"What the he..." I started to say as I turned back around before I was blindsided by some sort of weapon, knocking me to the ground several feet away. I shakily got to my feet, my hand instinctively reaching for my lance at my side, extending it as I spat out some blood. Whatever had hit me, it had hit me pretty damn hard. I looked up, finding a vixen standing several feet away.

The vixen appeared to be around my age with copper fur and long light blue hair that was tied back, the surface of it almost seeming to shimmer like water as the sun hit it. She wore a long blue dress with a white trim, a long pair of blue armsocks that reached her elbows, with a pair of blue boots with a white stripe down the center of them completing the look. No sooner did I notice her appearance did I notice that she was also holding a rather large wrench almost as tall as herself and seemed very angry. Her eyes looked down to the lance in my hand and the electricity crackling at the tip as her eyes narrowed.

"So, you are same fox who makes lightning," she said, stepping forward slowly, a slight Russian accent evident in her voice and speech pattern. "I assume you and your accomplice have come to finish job?" she asked, slapping the edge of her weapon against her free hand as she stepped closer, and I stepped back, quickly sheathing my lance again.

"Now hold on, I think there's been a misunderstanding, you see...Whoa!" I jumped to the side as the girl slammed the end of the wrench onto the ground where I'd just been standing with both hands.

"I will not be tricked second time! You come here asking for machine information, then try to strike me with lightning! You and strange cat who makes mist from thin air!" she accused me before she took another swing at me with the wrench. Well, I had at least confirmed that there was a second thief creating the mist covering Striker's escapes, someone that this girl had apparently seen.

"They're my enemies too, if you'd just allow me a moment to explain," I tried reasoning with her, but she pressed on her attack.

"Explanations not necessary," she growled, starting to rush at me, swinging the wrench wildly. "You make intentions perfectly clear, now allow me to return favor!" she told me, and I backed away, ducking and weaving to avoid her wrench.

"Listen, could you just put that thing down for a minute so we can talk? I don't really want to hurt you..." I started to say before she cut me off.

"Good, that makes my job easier!" she shot back, forcing me to jump to avoid the wrench once more as she swung for my ankles. Even though I didn't want to hurt her that much, I knew I had to at least defend myself if I wanted to walk away from this encounter without a concussion. I dodged to the side as she tried to ram the wrench into me before hitting her, causing her to go staggering back a few steps. She soon recovered and started another assault, though I was no stranger to handling such a tool myself as I caught the handle, twisting it in her grip until I'd forced myself closer to her, making it difficult for her to wield it.

"Look, I'm trying to help you, my friend and I are after the same people who attacked you!" I tried to explain.

"But you have already helped me...You have let your guard down!" the girl shot back as she suddenly curled one of her legs around my ankle and tripped me up, my arms flailing as I let go of the wrench and landed on my back. She once again raised her wrench once more before Skye suddenly came out of nowhere, plowing into the vixen and knocking her back. He had his Air Blade back in its sword form, and as I got up, the two of them were going at it with their respective weapons. Skye had an obvious advantage in weapon and strength, causing her to stagger back with each hit she deflected with her wrench, but she still kept at it, coming in to swing back with her wrench.

I decided it was time to intervene before things got too out of hand as I unsheathed my lance once more and shot a bolt of electricity from the tip at the ground between them. A large cloud of dirt was thrown up between them, causing them both to stagger back in surprise.

"Are the two of you quite finished now?" I asked, sheathing my lance once more as I strode over to the vixen and offered her a hand up. She looked back at me suspiciously, but accepted my hand as I helped her back up to her feet. "Now, if we're all done fighting each other, how about we calm down and start over? My name is Miles Prower, but I prefer to be called Tails, and I'm pretty sure that this is the first time I've been here and I've never attacked you," I introduced myself. The girl looked at me intently, as if she still didn't quite believe me. After a moment, realization suddenly dawned on her face.

"Blue..." She said softly, leaning in closer. "Your eyes...They're...Different from who attacked me," she clarified after a moment before she suddenly straightened up, blushing a little.

"I...I must apologize...It's...It's been hard to trust people after being alone so long," she told us before she looked back up. "My name is Sasha...Sasha Vexin," she told me before she sighed, looking down slightly as her ears flattened against her head. "It is not name I like, but given name...My papa once told me it reminded him of home country, but I am not from my parents' home country," she commented.

"I...I know how you feel," I told her softly, stepping closer. "I wasn't ever really fond of my own name...It was a friend who gave me the name I choose to go by now, and I think it's a friend who should give you a new name as well," I suggested, thinking a moment. "Sasha Vexin...Vexin...That's it, how would you like me to call you Vex?" she looked up at me, smiling a little as she nodded.

"Vex...Yes, I like name," she agreed softly. Skye then cleared his throat, and the two of us looked back at him.

"Um, hey, I know you two are kind of having a moment or something here, but aren't we getting a little sidetracked?" he asked, and I nodded a little.

"Right, we were trying to find out information about our enemies, that's originally why we came here," I explained, and she nodded.

"Come, I'll take you workshop, it is safer there," she told us, and the two of us followed her. We soon came to a fairly large house that reminded me a bit of my old workshop, including a large garage. As we came inside, there was no doubt that Sasha shared my prowess with machinery as there were various tools and parts on shelves around us as well as her own inventions taking the place of common appliances.

As I followed her, I did notice that she seemed to care more about her own appearance as well, a lot more than I did. Her clothes and hair were perfectly clean, not a spot or smudge present anywhere on them or her fur. I usually wasn't nearly as neat, much of my own clothes having oil stains and smears from years of working in the shop, and my own fur often resembled one of my oil rags when I'd finished working before I'd showered.

"So, you want to know more about strange fox and cat?" she asked as we came into the den and sat down on her couch, Skye and I taking seats near her.

"Well, the cat, mostly, we've crossed paths with her accomplice a few times already," I commented, and she nodded.

"She was...Quiet, she never spoke during entire meeting," she started to explain. "She wore all blue...Not blue I like, but deep blue, much like night sky," she continued. "She also kept face hidden, except for her eyes, and she carried a sword, although I did not fight her...Like I said, she made mist appear when I was fighting fox, and then both were gone," she concluded.

"Dark blue suit, masked face, carrying a sword...Wait a minute, are you saying she was a ninja?!" it suddenly dawned on me.

"Wait, we're fighting ninjas now?" Skye asked, confused. "This is getting pretty deep!"

"I...I don't know this word, this 'ninja'..." Vex spoke up, seeming confused. "I don't often watch TV or movies since I am often busy working, so I don't know much about media culture in America,"

"It's...Something closer to my own culture, actually," I told her. "In ancient Japan, ninjas were deadly warriors, assassins who never allowed themselves to be seen or heard. They wore dark blue suits like you described in order to blend into the night, black stood out too much under the light of the moon. That mist she created also sounds very ninja-like now that I think about it...It helps the two of them vanish without a trace, the way a true ninja does when confronted,"

"So I see, this cat is 'ninja'...I think I understand," she told me. "Well, it does not matter what she is, they have made enemy of me as well, and I will gladly join you!" she decided, and I nodded, smiling.

"I have a feeling we're going to need all the help we can get!"

* * *

><p><strong>Aaaaand, we're done! I'd like to take a moment to thank Gametime99 who gave me the basic idea for Sasha and who is currently working on a similar story entitled Miles Prower: Dark Hero. He gave me the idea for her name, age, fur color, general idea of her outfit (Which was basically meant to be similar to Amy's), and her prowess with machinery like Tails. I came up with the rest, as well as her accent and nickname. I wanted to wait a few chapters to introduce the love interest of this story, but I was so excited after I started to get more ideas for her that I decided not to wait and give a hint at another one of the story's villains at the same time. I won't say too much about the cat mentioned in this chapter here, but I just wanted to mention that I'm probably going to try to make her closer to the traditional ninja practices than they have been portrayed in a lot of media, so generally she's probably going to be less Mortal Kombat or Naruto and closer to Ninja Turtles or Mark of the Ninja. Well, that's it for now, see you next time!<strong>


	4. Unseen Enemy

Chapter Four: Unseen Enemy

The mist surrounded me, shrouding my vision so I couldn't see much more than a foot or two ahead of me. I sat still, focusing on my breathing, my ears twitching as I listened...Trying to find any hint, any indication I could use in order to...

"Gah, Tails, enough with the steam, it feels like a freaking volcano in here!" Skye's voice cut through the silence, and my eyes shot open.

"Uh, Thebes, the steam IS contained within the bathroom, isn't it?" I asked uncertainly.

"Well, I DID advise you to initiate lockdown protocol in that area before undertaking such an experiment, but you insisted on allowing your guests be unhindered by your actions," Thebes replied, and I sighed.

"All right, shut it down, then," I sighed. I'd been using Thebes' thermal heating system on the pipes in the bathroom in order to create a makeshift fog machine, anything to help prepare me for the inevitable fight between me and this mysterious ninja Vex told me about. The steam dissipated after a moment, and I stepped out of the room...To be met with a hard slap across the face.

"Aaah...What was THAT for?!" I asked, seeing the assault had come from Vex.

"You'll make my fur go frizzy, you fool! Do you know how long it would take to brush curls out of fur?" she demanded, and I stared at her after a moment.

"Well, I don't really brush my fur all that much," I admitted, to which she crossed her arms and turned away.

"Hmmph! I might have known, I have yet to meet boy who knows importance of good brushing!" she scoffed, stalking down the hall in a huff. I looked over to Skye, who was standing nearby, but he merely shrugged.

"Women, right?" he asked simply, and I sighed again, making my way down the hall to my room to think of what else I could do.

* * *

><p>As it turned out, Vex was right about the frizzing as I soon started to look like a French poodle after my fur started to dry out. While it was true I usually didn't brush myself, I looked ridiculous and had to get it sorted out. Problem was, I'd been working for upwards of an hour now, and still couldn't get the damn things out of my fur.<p>

"Thebes, remind me again why I didn't program any grooming functions into your system?" I muttered half to myself, but Thebes answered anyway.

"That was by your own preference, sir, I believe you mentioned how awkward it might be when I once brought it up," he responded. Thebes had been sort of...Inquisitive early on after I'd first activated him. I'd tried my best to forget that time period, particularly some of the more...Personal inquiries he'd given me. I shook the thought from my mind and continued attacking my fur with a brush. Unfortunately, I ended up brushing a lot harder than I'd intended, crying out as it snagged my fur.

"Aaaah! Get out you stupid..." I stumbled back, yanking at the brush stuck in my snarled fur, not noticing the wall behind me before I thumped into it, causing several books and a few odd objects to come crashing down from the shelf above me down on top of me.

"Tails, what..." Vex came rushing in a moment later, seeming concerned before she stopped, putting a hand to her mouth as she was clearly trying not to laugh at the sight of me with my afro of a fur coat and my own clumsiness.

"...You were right about your fur," I told her simply. She walked over to me, carefully untangling the brush from my fur and pulling it free before helping me to my feet. Before I could do anything else, she pulled me over to my bed and sat me down, sitting beside me.

"Here, I can help," she told me, taking the brush and setting to work smoothing over my fur. I turned away, hoping she didn't see me blushing as she continued working, carefully smoothing out my fur for me. She obviously had a lot more experience in this sort of grooming, so she could probably get the curls out a lot sooner than I could do it. Besides, it did feel pretty nice...I quickly brushed away the thought, instead trying to think of the task of how to fight an unseen enemy and how to find out more about whoever it was behind this whole thing. After some time, she'd been able to help get my fur back under control, much to my relief.

"There, that should do," she told me as she got the rest of the curls out of my left tail. "You really should brush your fur more, it's no wonder your fur frizzed so much," she told me.

"I...I'll try to keep that in mind..." I told her awkwardly, still a bit embarrassed about the whole ordeal. As I looked back at her, although I hadn't really noticed before when she was trying to attack me, I suddenly realized her eyes were violet, complimenting her fur as well as her hair color. It was hard not to get lost in...Wait a minute...Lost...Frizz...My mind worked in overtime as I suddenly made a few connections.

"Wait, that's it!" I realized, snapping my fingers as Vex blinked in confusion.

"What is what?" she asked, but I was already heading for the door, pulling my lance out of its holster as I made my way towards my workshop downstairs.

"I'll explain later," I called back as I went to work on the newest addition to my weapon.

* * *

><p>"All right, that should do it," I said to myself as I closed out the panel in the lance's handle, screwing it back into place.<p>

"If you're done working, sir, it may interest you to know that I've picked up another occurrence of mist in the city, and there's yet to be a report of Mr. Freyer seen around the area," Thebes spoke up, and I nodded.

"Perfect, just in time to give this new feature a field test," I responded, slipping my lance back into its holster. "I'm going after this target alone, though, it's too risky to involve Skye and Vex with this sort of opponent without the advantage I just developed, so don't let them know where I went," I instructed him.

"Very good, Sir, you have my word," Thebes agreed, and I made my way out of the base. I took to the air, soon reaching the area the mist seemed to be shrouded around. I entered the mist, carefully landing on the ground. I didn't want to make too much noise, rather wanting to catch my enemy by surprise if I could possibly manage it. I slid my goggles down over my eyes, setting it to allow me to see the electromagnetic spectrum as I pulled out my lance and activated its new feature; a low-level electromagnetic pulse was then sent out in a wide area around me, as imperceptible to others as someone's personal aura.

Seen through my goggles, however, it revealed to me any objects and people around me. The answer to my problem had been so simple I was surprised I hadn't thought of it before; electrolocation, a few simple tweaks to my already electrically-charged weapon to emit a pulse that would allow me to use it the same way creatures like electric eels used it...Okay, maybe not so simple, but it was to me.

It definitely payed off as I soon detected a cat-shaped figure in the building before me, seeming to be looking for something. I memorized her position before I made my way inside, sending out a few more pulses to make sure she hadn't moved before I pointed my lance, unleashing a bolt of electricity. The mist immediately dissipated, the cat's concentration ruined as I shocked her, and I got a good look at her myself. As Vex had said, many of her features were hidden behind a midnight blue outfit, though as she recovered, I did see that she had pink eyes with some blue fur visible around her eyes and bridge of her nose.

She looked at me a moment before she summoned her mist again, and another pulse told me she was trying to vanish in the mist outside a nearby window. I took to the air and gave chase, keeping track of her position using a combination of the pulses and my memory as I noted her direction each time I pulsed. I followed closely behind her, stabbing at her with my lance, which she managed to narrowly avoid each time as she continued trying to escape.

I thought I'd cornered her one time before I pulsed and managed to dodge just in time to avoid the blade of her katana. It seemed she'd realized she couldn't escape in a typical ninja fashion this time, and so had turned to the last resort of a ninja escape; assassination. I deflected several more attacks with my lance before I used my tails to thrust myself forward, ramming my shoulder into her. This caught her off-guard as the mist cleared once again long enough for me to get a shot off at her leg, incapacitating her for the moment.

At least, I thought she was incapacitated as I rushed in to render her unconscious before she suddenly blasted me with a burst of water she seemed to have pulled from nowhere, the water covering the lens of my goggles and obscuring my vision. I stumbled back, quickly trying to wipe the water from my goggles as I felt the mist rising around me once more. By the time I'd managed to clear them, though, the ninja and the mist were already gone...

"You really are fool, aren't you?!" Vex asked as I had returned to base and told her and Skye what had happened. "If she is how you say, she could have easily killed you..." she continued.

"That's a chance I had to take...I at least had a way to find her, I didn't want to get either of you killed in the process," I explained before Skye stepped up.

"Dude, I've fought off guys at least three times my size before with my sword, I think we could have handled ourselves," he assured me.

"Indeed, you might get yourself killed, but that does not mean that we do same!" Vex agreed haughtily. "After all, we are friends, yes? That what friends do, we look out for each other!" she told me. I was about to make another argument before I realized she had a point.

"You...You're right," I admitted, looking away. "I had another friend who would have done the same thing and helped me no matter what the risk, it was just the kind of person he was," I continued, thinking of Sonic. He likely wouldn't be happy with my behavior that day either. And I was arrogant enough to call myself his successor...

"Well, anyway, I did find out one thing about her in my confrontation," I suddenly switched tacks, brushing aside that last thought. "She appears to be a water elemental, which explains how she was creating the mist; she must have been drawing on the water from the air enough that it raised the humidity to a level at which the mist formed...I only realized it when she caught me off-guard by blasting me with some water she must have drawn directly into her hand from the air...So I think I might be able to find a way to stop her from even forming the mist now that I know how she does it," I concluded.

"Awesome, she might know something about my father, too!" Skye spoke up, and I nodded.

"That is a distinct possibility...In any case, we need to prepare and think of what our next move should be," I suggested, and both of them nodded.

"Perhaps you are not quite as foolish after all," Vex told me, and I smiled, glad to finally have some new friends I could count on.

* * *

><p><strong>Well, that's it for this part! I'd already had the idea for the opening scene with the steam Tails was training in and having the initial confrontation with the ninja, but I couldn't think of what else to include. I'd considered introducing the sidekick character in this chapter, but I still don't really have too much of an idea developed for one, but rest assured, I probably will have something worked out by the next few chapters unless soomeone gives me an idea before then. I eventually decided to include some comic relief with Tails' mishap and his interactions between Thebes and his friends...And then when I was writing it, I realized I had the perfect opportunity to develop the romantic relationship between him and Vex some more with her brushing his fur, and the idea was too adorable not to include. One last side note, the ninja does have a name and does speak and introduce herself later on in the story, just in case you were wondering.<strong>


End file.
